Howard County Happenings

Our life is controlled not by our conditions, but by our DECISIONS.

Whenever you look at your life you want to ask yourself, “Why is my life the way it is right now?” Anything I’m thrilled about, or anything I’m unhappy with, it ultimately comes down to looking at the DECISIONS I've made. And sometimes, seemingly little decisions are the ones that have shaped our lives immensely. Every single one has some level of impact. How many of you can think of some decision you made in the last 5, 10, or 15 years that if you made a different decision, you would have a radically different life right now?

If you come to one of my seminars and live events, we focus, and we do the work, and it’s day-and-night full-on total immersion, and we rip it open, and if you walk out of there and your life changes forever -- it’s certainly not going to be me who made the change. I’ll provide the environment and some strategies and tools, but it’s YOU. The only thing that changes YOUR LIFE is YOUR DECISIONS.

Our creator -- who or whatever you believe has given you the gift of life -- gives you experiences; you get to DECIDE what to do with it all.

This is my invitation to you. Choose well.

A thought for today!

The Old River Hill Nursery is being changed to a cool shopping area. It will be home to a Starbucks, Five Guys, Secu Bank, and a few more shops.

HOWARD COUNTY BUSINESS AT A GLANCE

[More Maryland news] What students, teachers, Howard County school community are saying about the first day of virtual learning »
Population: 321,113

Jobs: 157,255

Private businesses: 9,880

Major employers*:

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory: 7,000 employees

Howard County General Hospital: 1,765 employees

Verizon: 1,700 employees

Howard Community College: 1,410 employees

Lorien Health Systems: 1,190 employees

Columbia Association: 1,180 employees

Coastal Sunbelt Produce: 1,050 employees

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory: 7,000 employees

Howard County General Hospital: 1,765 employees

Verizon: 1,700 employees

Howard Community College: 1,410 employees

Lorien Health Systems: 1,190 employees

Columbia Association: 1,180 employees

Coastal Sunbelt Produce: 1,050 employees

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory: 7,000 employees

Howard County General Hospital: 1,765 employees

Verizon: 1,700 employees

Howard Community College: 1,410 employees

Lorien Health Systems: 1,190 employees

Columbia Association: 1,180 employees

Coastal Sunbelt Produce: 1,050 employees

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory: 7,000 employees

Howard County General Hospital: 1,765 employees

Verizon: 1,700 employees

Howard Community College: 1,410 employees

Lorien Health Systems: 1,190 employees

Columbia Association: 1,180 employees

Coastal Sunbelt Produce: 1,050 employees

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Maryland Department of Commerce

*Excludes post offices, state and local governments, national retail and national food service; includes higher education.

VEHICLES
ARTS AND CULTURE
SPORTS
7 surprising facts about Howard County
By BY ALLISON EATOUGH
OCT 08, 2012 AT 10:34 AM

Babe Ruth's first marriage ceremony took place in Ellicott City.
(illustration by Violet Lemay)
Did You Know?

Howard County is known nationwide for its schools, parks, sports programs, libraries and affluence.
But tucked away in faded, aging documents and longtime residents' minds, there are plenty of
little-known facts that might just surprise you.

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#1
Take Morse to the water
In the early 1800s, the village of Poplar Springs in western Howard County served as a temporary home for travelers headed west. Travelers including Samuel F.B. Morse, one of the inventors of Morse code, were drawn to the town for its lodging, food, general store, post office and blacksmith services for horses and wagons, according to "Howard's Roads to the Past," by Barbara W. Feaga. But some think the cool springs were the town's biggest draw. The spring water was believed to have healing powers, Feaga states. Once the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad arrived in the 1830s, with stations in nearby Woodbine and Watersville, Poplar Springs became even more popular as a summer resort for Baltimore and Washington area vacationers, she states. During the summers of 1842 to 1844, Morse is said to have stayed in Poplar Springs, perfecting his latest invention: the single-wire telegraph.

#2
Bambino gets hitched
On Oct. 17, 1914, legendary baseball player George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. married his first wife, Margaret Helen Woodford, at St. Paul's Church in Ellicott City. The Baltimore-born athlete and the waitress legally separated in 1925. Woodford died in a fire in 1929, freeing Ruth to marry actress Claire Hodgson that same year. A copy of Ruth's first marriage certificate can be seen at the Howard County Historical Society's research library, inside the Miller Branch Library in Ellicott City.

#3
Where the buzz began
With fluctuating gas prices and increasing environmental awareness, today's electric cars continue to grow in popularity. But to Columbia, they are nothing new. In 1976, Sebring-Vanguard, an electric car manufacturer, opened its national sales office and showroom off Red Branch Road. The manufacturer's all-electric CitiCar, created by Robert Gerald Beaumont, could travel up to 30 miles per hour and had a range of 40 miles. James Rouse, who led the development of Columbia in the 1960s, even bought one as a company car. According to the Columbia Archives, when the car needed a charge, Rouse and other employees plugged it into an outlet near the Rouse headquarters building in downtown Columbia. Unfortunately for Sebring-Vanguard, the car suffered due to safety concerns. Production stopped in the late 1970s.

[Most read] ‘Superyacht’ docked in Baltimore near Four Seasons Hotel »
#4
A legend buried beneath us
In the 1920s, prominent Elkridge businessman Howard Bruce bought Billy Barton, a thoroughbred racehorse known for being unruly. At the time, Bruce owned the Belmont estate — a vast historic property off Belmont Woods Road. According to the Save Belmont Coalition, Bruce and his wife, Mary, ran a working farm on the estate. Bruce also bred and trained thoroughbred hunters, which would chase the hounds that chased foxes during hunts. But Bruce quickly realized Billy Barton was more than a hunter horse. He entered Billy Barton in steeplechase races — horse races over closed courses with obstacles like hedges and walls. In 1926, Billy Barton won the coveted Maryland Hunt Cup and the Virginia Gold Cup. In 1928, he lost the Grand National Steeplechase crown in England by only inches because his jockey fell off over the last jump, the coalition says. Still, he had gained international fame. He even graced the March 18, 1929, cover of Time magazine. Four years later, when Billy Barton died, he was buried a few yards from his old paddock at Belmont.

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#5
More ice cream, please
Travel down Whiskey Bottom Road in Laurel, and eventually you'll see — and maybe even smell — it: the 700,000-square-foot Nestle Dreyer's Ice Cream plant. The plant, known as the company's Laurel Operations Center, is one of the largest ice-cream plants in the nation. It distributes more than 200 different Dreyer's, Edy's, Haagen-Dazs and Skinny Cow ice-cream products and frozen snacks. The plant is so big it can store enough milk to fill 10 Olympic-size swimming pools, says Greg Brown, head of factory finance. Nestle bought the building in 1996, and Dreyer's moved in in 2003 after the two companies joined forces. Today, the plant employs almost 1,000 people during its peak summer season. Ice-cream sundae, anyone?

#6
Who needs mountains?
In 1968, Columbia planners examined more than 20 locations for possible ski slopes in Columbia, according to the Columbia Archives. One recommendation was to develop a permanent camping and recreation area with a ski run west of Hobbit's Glen Golf Course.

#7
Build it and they will come — or maybe not
In the late 1960s, planners tossed around the idea of adding a large sports stadium in Columbia. Around the same time, Carroll Rosenbloom, then-owner of the Baltimore Colts, began searching for his own new stadium. According to a Nov. 17, 1970, Baltimore Sun article stored at the Columbia Archives, Rosenbloom wanted an alternative to Memorial Stadium, then home to both the Colts and the Baltimore Orioles. Here's where the Columbia and Colts paths merge. A March 14, 1971, Baltimore Sun article, also found at the Columbia Archives, states Columbia authorities were confident they would soon close a land deal near Snowden River and Little Patuxent parkways, putting the Colts in a new 60,000-seat stadium within a few years. Yet according to several James Rouse memos, an agreement could not be reached. The Colts eventually found a new stadium and a new home on March 29, 1984, when they infamously left in the middle of the night for Indianapolis. And that Columbia stadium many dreamed of never came to be.

The Columbia Archives and The Howard County Historical Society have hundreds of documents on file tracing the county's history. For more information, visit www.columbiaarchives.com and www.hchsmd.org.

www.columbiaarchives.com

Ellicott City is one of my favorite places to visit.

Welcome to my new page. I am providing Howard County updates. This will be done on a regular basis to help all of us to stay informed on all the news. Please enjoy!

Howard County Happenings updated their business hours.

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Howard County Happenings updated their info in the about section.

Howard County Granting $60k to Maryland Legal Aid to Support Residents Facing Eviction Due to COVID-19
Howard County Granting $60k to Maryland Legal Aid to Support Residents Facing Eviction Due to COVID-19
September 3, 2020

Media Contact:

Scott Peterson, Director of Communications, Office of Public Information, 202-277-9412

ELLICOTT CITY, MD – Today, County Executive Calvin Ball announced $60,581 in CARES Act funding for Maryland Legal Aid (MLA) to assist residents facing eviction and other legal challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The grant will help provide the education, assistance and representation needed to prevent evictions in forthcoming failure to pay rent proceedings.

“With the Courts re-opening this week, there is an immediate need for legal assistance to support tenants in demonstrating substantial loss of income-related to COVID-19,” said Ball. “We’ve seen more than 46,000 residents file for unemployment since March, and there are many of our neighbors who are unable to afford private attorney assistance on top of their daily needs.”

MLA will provide in-court tenant assistance and representation, conduct virtual training and presentations to educate the public on tenants’ rights, and engage in community outreach and promote project services.

“With hundreds of thousands of Marylanders facing eviction as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for legal assistance is dire,” said Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh. “On behalf of the Attorney General’s Access to Justice Covid-19 Task Force, we appreciate County Executive Ball’s efforts in providing support for these essential services.”

MLA’s range of legal assistance includes:

Representing tenants at Failure To Pay Rent (FTPR) court hearings;
Pursuing post-trial motions as appropriate to change or enforce court orders;
Gathering documents or proof of rent payments for self-help tenants;
Informing tenants about COVID-19 financial assistance available to tenants;
Negotiating payment plans with landlords;
Creating self-help packets and materials for ineligible tenants to use; and
Creating a packet and materials to train volunteer attorneys on representing tenants in court.
Established in 1911, The Legal Aid Bureau, Inc. (Maryland Legal Aid/MLA) is a statewide non-profit law firm whose mission is to provide free, high-quality, civil legal assistance to low-income persons throughout the state of Maryland. MLA is the largest nonprofit legal services provider in Maryland and maintains 12 offices throughout the state, with a dedicated staff of 300, including 153 attorneys and 65 paralegals.108,497 vulnerable citizens were served in 2019 statewide with legal assistance that directly addressed their most basic and essential needs, enabling them to live stable and productive lives. Of these, nearly 2,000 residents of Howard County benefited from MLA’s services.

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